The Price to Be Me
by 5harky
Summary: Dib and Zim are both in Hi Skool, five years having passed, and Zim has yet to conquer Earth. They have both grown, physically as well as mentally, and now Zim fears for his life. Full summary inside, ZADR in later chapters! Rewriting/Editing check CH8
1. Fights and Waffles

**Title** :: The Price to Be Me

**Fandom **:: Invader Zim

**Pairing** :: ZADR ( Zim and Dib Romance)

**Beta** :: Mad_Luc (Love to him)

Author's Note- Hey guys! This is the (Re-Re)Edited version of TPTBM Chapter 1!-confetti- I did some major re-vamping and editing to it, so I hope you guys like it! Drop me a line if you don't mind, and read away!

And if you didn't notice, I added more bits here and there, but not too much to be worried about! Thanks guys!

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**Fights and Waffles** –

The halls of Hi Skool were supposed to be empty when class was in session. But instead, they were crowded with greasy teenagers trying to catch a glimpse of the scene unfolding in the middle of the mob. In the center, there were two males, one pale skinned, and the other…green skinned. There were shouts erupting from the middle, something along the lines of 'brain-washing', alien-scum, and filthy earth monkeys. Both males were glaring daggers at each other the entire time, so neither noticed the crowd of brain-dead teens surrounding them, this event occurring quite often for everyone.

The males were both quite tall, each close to an impressive six foot one, the green male about only an inch or two less than the other. Both had black hair, but their styles were different. One had a scythe lock; the other sported a Devil's Lock haircut today. They were both skinny, unnaturally so even.

The paler boy, Dib, was always mocked in his childhood for having a rather large head. But now that he had matured, he seemed to have grown into the size of his head, and he was rather well proportioned. It now looked like his head was just slightly larger than normal, yet he was still ridiculed for it. His scythe lock of hair had gotten longer over the years, and it now curled over his head, brushing the back of his neck. His face was more angled and defined, and his eyes were a deeper gold color than when he was young. Other than that, he was the same old insane Dib Membrane.

"Stupid Dib-monkey! You accuse Zim of something false! Zim would never try and brain-wash all of the adult-units in this educational facility to try and extract their information of this pathetic dirt-ball of a planet!" The green teenager shouted at the other, smirking with his arms crossed. It was easy to see that he knew that he would be the victor of this fight.

Zim hadn't changed much either over the years. He still had a horrible disguise, just a wig and contact lenses for his eyes, but he had definitely gotten taller. And apparently with height, comes knowledge for the Irken race; or at least most of it. It was true, Zim was now a lot smarter than he used to be, but he still sometimes acted just as he had five years ago when he first arrived on Earth. His wig changed from time to time, even sometimes weekly, but the contacts were the same as the first day he got them.

Dib was about to retort to Zim's comment, but he stopped himself before he even started, giving the Irken a blank look. He sighed softly and only then did he look around to the other teenagers in the hall.

"You guys didn't catch a word of that, did you?" Dib asked them dejectedly.

The other teens just stared blankly for a moment before throwing paper balls at Dib's head and started muttering things like, "Stupid insane Dib!" and "What the hell is he talking about?" as they dispersed out into the greasy air of the town, the final bell ringing at last.

"Why do I even try anymore?" Dib asked himself, watching the others rush from the school. He almost got trampled by a few stray students and teachers eager to leave, but he skirted towards the side before he was hurt.

He looked to Zim, noticing that he also had moved towards the lockers, but he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a wide smirk on his face, and he just looked straight at Dib with his blue contacts smugly.

Dib just sighed, shaking his head in shame, having been defeated by his peers' stupidity once again. "I give up with them, I'm going home…" he said as he adjusted the strap of the messenger bag on his shoulder, turning away from Zim. He didn't bother to step around the paper balls, being used to this kind of treatment by now.

"Aw, but Zim was just starting to have fun!" Zim said, talking in third person like usual. He clasped his three fingered hands behind his back, looking up at the yellowed ceiling as he followed the other down the hall.

Dib stepped out into the sunlight, wincing slightly when the sun hit his eyes through his glasses, making him turn away slightly. Dib took that moment to look back at the one following him, knowing he would be there, and smirking ever so slightly when he saw Zim wince as well, the sun apparently out to get everyone with its deadly rays today.

They started off of the Hi Skool boundaries, onto the sidewalk, where they walked side by side. They walked along in silence, this having become a usual thing for them both.

The two boys had always been close to each other, even when they were 'sworn enemies', but they started acting more like friends when they were in Middle Skool. It had been the same for the most part, Dib was still called crazy, and Zim was still known as the strange foreign kid with green skin. But halfway through their 7th grade year, Zim had disappeared from Skool altogether.

Just before he disappeared, Zim had decided to drop in on His Almighty Tallest to give them a report of how things were going. They were there, eating snacks, but they did not realize that Zim was on the screen, so they just continued their conversation. He was going to speak up, but he soon heard exactly what they were talking about. The Tallest were talking about him, laughing and recalling that fateful day once more of them sending him away to Earth. And even though through his entire stay on that planet before that moment, he had believed in his mission, hearing it from the Tallest that it was all a lie, made it finally sink in for him.

Zim had gone into what you could call a 'downward spiral of depression', and he had hidden away in his base for three months. No one saw him during that time, not even Dib with his spy equipment. During those three months of hiding, Dib had come to find that he worried over Zim a lot, and he even found himself truly caring if he was alright or not. He even tried to break into Zim's base every once in awhile, only to be almost obliterated by Zim's computer or GIR in defense mode.

The Irken came back in the spring of 7th grade, and he still tried to act the same, but Dib could tell something very bad had happened to him. Dib began to show him that he cared for the Irken, and they started to get closer, but they were always very wary of each other. Their relationship was very fragile, and Zim would sometimes revert back to his old self, but they were both very grateful for each other's companionship.

They grew together after that, as friends and part-time rivals, both mentally and physically.

When they started Hi Skool, they didn't much care about learning the same things over again for the millionth time, but they both decided that going there was better than doing nothing. They tried to pass the time together in Skool, doing whatever they could think of. And that included fighting.

A silent agreement was made between them though. They had established that they were always friends, but they constantly picked fights and taunted one another to make their days exciting. They even had their own daily routine. They would meet the other in the morning; find something they could fight about until it escalated up until lunch, where they would get deeper into the fight, and it always ended up in the halls or other large areas, the final rounds of the fight taking place there.

But no injuries were made. No major ones at least, and never on purpose. Never.

They were accustomed to each other's company now, and they were almost never apart during the day. They knew a lot about each other, and they knew their boundaries. Dib knew to limit his talk of Zim's 'mission', and to never mention his leaders, because this brought major problems between the two. Zim knew that Dib didn't like talking about his deceased mother-drone, and that talking about his many failures brought pain upon himself.

Dib found out why Zim had disappeared for so long back then, and he grew to hate the Tallest just as much as Zim now did, even thought the Irken would never straightforwardly admit it. Dib couldn't believe that Zim's leaders would send him away to an uncharted planet with an 'advanced' SIR unit, just to get rid of him. It was horrible and so very wrong, and they both knew it. It was sad that only the human could admit it though.

In turn, Zim knew that Dib had a troubled childhood, even before the Irken came to his planet. His mother-unit died when he was still very young, and the Dib-sister acted as if she hated him. Not to mention that his father-unit was constantly leaving them to go work with his SCIENCE.

So they relied on each other for companionship when it was needed and rivalry when they craved a fight. Zim's mission was still always on his mind, since that was what he was programmed to do (even though he was made a food service drone after Impending Doom 1), but he didn't put much thought or effort into his attempts anymore. And Dib was still obsessed with his paranormal science, but he had begun to get interested in regular SCIENCE as well to try and get his father to notice his existence.

But now, Zim and Dib were walking down the littered sidewalk, both zoning in and out of awareness of the goings on. It was Dib who broke the silence as they got closer to their destination, which was the Irken's base.

"Zim, were you really trying to brain-wash the teachers to get information?" Dib was confused as to why Zim would do this. "Because you and I both know that they aren't very smart…"

Zim looked at the human with an all-knowing smirk before answering, "No Dib-human, Zim was just trying to extract information from his English teachers mind for the answers on the test that she is so rudely throwing onto Zim's class tomorrow!" He cackled slightly, now knowing every right answer to the five hundred point test they were getting. And the best part was, he programmed the information into his pak, so he wouldn't forget any of it!

"Are you serious?" Dib looked at him incredulously, since even though he hated school, he still needed good grades. "Geez, Zim! You should've let me get the answers too! You of all people know how much I need to-"

Dib was cut off mid-sentence by a loud 'BOOM' coming from Zim's strange little green house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

They exchanged a glance before running up to the Irken's base. Zim opened the door with the men's room sign on it quickly and sprinting inside. He didn't get far before he slipped and fell onto the hard floor, getting strange yellow goo all over himself. Dib didn't stop quickly enough either, and he soon followed Zim's example, falling face first onto the sticky goo-covered floor. Zim wiped his face off, glaring daggers at the small green, and now yellow, dog in the middle of it all, holding a plate of deformed waffles.

"GIR! WHAT THE SMEET ARE YOU DOING!?" Zim shouted, propping himself up with his arms before his spider legs came out of his Pak and lifted him out of the goo.

"Lookit! I made you waffles!" Gir said as he smiled, holding out the yellow waffle-things, that looked like they were crawling towards Zim and Dib, squeaking softly as they twitched.

Zim's fists clenched as his spider legs brought him down in front of his defective SIR, death showing in Zim's eyes.

"Master? Aren't you gonna eat my waffles?" Gir asked with an innocent smile still on his dog face.

Zim answered him with a growl, lunging at the little disguised robot, hands out and ready to tear the little thing apart. Gir screamed and laughed insanely, running away from the Irken, his arms flailing above his head as he screamed, running around in all different directions before crashing into the wall. The waffles had been thrown into the air as he began running, and the plate landed with a crash on the floor, shattering.

Dib was still trying to get to his feet, but kept falling as he laughed and lost his balance. Gir did this a lot, but he really made a mess this time. He felt a scratching on his leg, and he cried out in shock as he saw one of the mutated waffles trying to crawl up his leg. He stood up quickly, and he stamped his foot on it, squishing it to pieces.

Dib did the same with the others that were surrounding him until they were all just pieces of twitching waffle. He sighed in relief, looking over at the still fuming invader, seeing that Gir had run outside and down the street screaming. He shook his head slightly, walking over to Zim carefully over the twitching 'food' and goo.

Zim sighed, finally calming himself again before calling his computer into awareness. "Computer!"

"Whaaaaaat?" the computer asked, quite bored and uninterested. Zim's eye twitched at the response, trying to stay calm, and glancing over at Dib, motioning for him to follow as he walked through the kitchen to the secret hall and into the elevator. Over the years he had made additions and adjustments to his base, including an actual elevator instead of a toilet or trash can. He had kept those though, since Gir had cried for an hour after he had gotten rid of them.

"Computer, make sure this mess gets cleaned up, and when Gir comes back, make sure he doesn't make another mess up here!" he said as he stepped into the elevator, Dib following a moment later. They were both covered in the yellow goo and looked quite ridiculous; Zim's wig having slid a little out of place and Dib's glasses splotched and skewed on his face. They heard a whined 'fiiiine' from the computer as the doors swished shut, lowering them into the labs below the house.


	2. Plans Gone Awry

A/N: Here's the second chapter, that is now edited and updated! Sorry it took so long guys....

Disclaimer: I don't own it, but I do own the whole series on DVD! : D

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**Plans Gone Awry**-

The elevator ride wasn't very long, but the both of them had stayed silent during their time in the enclosed space. Zim was silently fuming while Dib was trying to wipe off some of the yellow substance that was clinging to his clothes and hair.

As the doors of the elevator whooshed opened, Zim sighed at the sight of the room before them. The lab's floor was covered with unfinished work, both mechanical and blueprints. Dib's eyes widened slightly when he saw the mess, knowing that it wasn't usually like this.

"Hey Zim…Uh, did Gir get into your things again?" he asked as he tried to step over a stray laser gun or two. He practically hopped from place to place, trying to find as many gaps in the mess as possible for him to step. He didn't know if any of it was important, so he didn't want to chance breaking anything.

"No Dib-thing, Zim has just been…busy…" he said offhandedly, his spider legs emerging to shift some of the mess out of his way, while Zim himself pushed the things off of the main counter. Some of the metal pieces clanged together and a glass something-or-other shattered on the floor as it all fell. His antenna twitched slightly at the sudden noise, but he recovered quickly. He sat at the computer, reaching under the counter to grab two bags of chips, tossing one to Dib, not even looking back at him to see if he was paying attention.

Dib, who had luckily been watching as Zim threw it, caught it quickly, not wanting to smash the chips and he leaned up against the counter next to the Irken and munched on the fried potato-y treat. They rested in silence for a moment; the only sounds were of the crunching of chips, and the whir of mechanics. Zim lazily scrolled on the monitor, and he read over a few things in Irken, changing a few things here and there. Dib looked around, wondering what could have been making Zim so busy that his lab ended up like this.

They heard a crash from upstairs, telling them that Gir had finally returned from his daily screaming stroll. Dib held in a chuckle as he heard crazed laughter from upstairs and Zim held in a biting comment. He rubbed his temples slowly, his antennae twitching irritably underneath his wig.

Zim tilted his head back, his disguised eyes slipping shut slowly, showing exactly how exhausted he was.

He reached up and grabbed onto the itchy wig, pulling it off and throwing it on the floor, adding to the mess but clearly not caring. Zim opened his eyes for a moment, and he took the scratchy lenses out easily. Shutting his now dark pink eyes again, he gave a small sigh, blinking a few times to ease out the dryness the contacts caused. His antennae twitched softly to stretch out again after finally being released from underneath his wig.

Dib found another chair, pulling it up next to the Irken after he relocated the papers that were on it to the floor, and sat with a small 'thump'. He peered at the Irken curiously, wondering what was making him so wiped out. It couldn't have been GIR's behavior; he did things like that every day. What could it be?

"What's wrong Zim? You seem…off today," Dib said leaning towards his friend a bit more, glancing at him with his golden eyes. His glasses were slipping off of his nose ever so slightly, but he didn't bother pushing them back up.

Zim cracked an eye open slightly, gazing at the human for a moment without moving from his position even the slightest bit. He closed his eyes again, ignoring the question in thought of an answer.

"I guess, you could say I've been…'stressed'," he said, eyeing the human once again, wondering if he should tell the other the reasons why. He had known him for five long years, and yet he was still paranoid from time to time. Of course, he had good reason to be paranoid around the only human to know his secret identity. The corner of his lips twitched at that thought; he suddenly felt like a superhero, even though he could be considered the exact opposite. An anti-hero perhaps then.

"Stressed?" Dib paused, raising an eyebrow. "What are you stressed about? It can't possibly be school…" Dib asked with confusion clear in his voice. If Zim answered him, maybe that answer would also help explain the mess in the lab.

Zim scrutinized him for another moment before leaning up into a sitting position, making Dib draw back slightly.

"Zim has to be very careful around his Tallest now Dib-brain. Secrets are to be kept, and that is not a safe thing for a lower ranked Irken to do. Keeping secrets is a no-no," Zim whispered as he wagged his finger in front of the other's face.

"Secrets?" Dib asked after getting his eyes un-crossed, having watched the other's finger wag in front of his face. "What secrets do you have to keep from your leaders?" Dib asked as he slowly reached for another chip, keeping the rustling of the bag to a minimum since it was obvious they were supposed to be quiet. Of course, Dib couldn't see why Zim kept his voice down, since no one was listening to them, but he played along anyways. He found that he got farther in life if he just went along with Zim's crazy antics instead of trying to stop them or question him about it.

Zim opened and closed his mouth a few times, resembling a green and mutated fish out of water for a moment, not knowing how to explain. He pouted for a moment before regaining his composure, and he stood up suddenly, making Dib almost fall backwards.

"As you can see Dib-observant, I have gotten quite a lot taller in the years that I have been here on your spinning ball of dirt. Much taller than before," he said, stopping there. He figured that would explain it all.

Dib straightened himself out after almost falling over, and he looked over the Irken questioningly. "Yeah, I know Zim. So what?"

Zim glared at him a moment for not getting it, but then he just smiled his zipper-tooth smile, his crimson eyes narrowing. His antenna straightened themselves out, stretching back behind his head as he stood up in a stalk-straight position.

"Zim has become taller than the Tallest!" He cackled softly for a moment, reveling in his height. But a moment later he crouched down, eyes narrowing a bit, as he got closer to Dib's face again. "If I were to be found out, I would be put to death." He paused, thinking before throwing his arms up into the air. "Execution! Deactivation! Elimination! Pick your favorite." He turned his back to Dib again, leaning against the counter.

"It's not like they need a better reason after that. Zim is a threat to their thrones," Zim decided to leave out the fact that it seemed like all the other Irkens would love the idea to get rid of him, since no one liked him. And the Dib-monster didn't count.

He paused for a moment, straightening his back again and turning to lean against the counter to face Dib, his arms crossed over his chest.

"But of course, I have planned carefully, making sure that no one is to find out. Things like messes and 'insomnia' occur, but it is all trivial to what could happen if someone were to know. You, Dib-thing, would not tell, would you?" Zim asked, approaching the human quickly to tower over his sitting form. He held in a growl, but it was easy to see that it would let loose in a moment if he didn't answer fast enough.

Dib snapped back into reality once more, shaking his head vigorously. "No Zim! I won't tell anyone!" He pushed against Zim's chest, making him back away a bit more. "You should know by now that you're the only one who will believe me about anything, and I don't plan on handing you over to your own leaders." He stood as well, his back popping as he did so.

"Geez, your leaders would really go that far to keep their place? That's terrible…" he remarked, shaking his head in disbelief as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, yes, Zim knows. 'Tis horribly awful what they would do to magnificent Zim," he said offhandedly, sighing slightly. He was trying to make it seem as if it was something trivial to him, but it was hard to seem uncaring to something that wracked your mind with nerves constantly.

"Well, how are you going to make sure they don't find out? They will be expecting a report from you soon, right? Don't you usually send them one every couple months or so?" Dib asked, quite curious about his plan, and worried for his friend at the same time.

"Ah, but that is where I have been very careful Dib-monkey. You see, I have dug up some of the video recordings of myself speaking that you caught years ago, and I know how to speak over the original audio. There are flaws to that plan yes, but they have not noticed yet…" Zim said smirking and he turned to bring up a small clip of a recording on the screen to demonstrate.

Dib watched for a moment and started chuckling, not believing that Zim's leaders could be so stupid. Sure, they never paid much attention to Zim's transmissions anyways, but any half-wit should be able to tell a recording from live feed!

"Well, then I guess that's a good reason to thank me, right Zim? I mean I was the one who filmed it in the first-"Dib said, being cut off for the second time that afternoon.

"INCOMING TRANSMISSION," Zim's computer announced, making both the human and the invader jump in shock, and Zim's eyes widened in horror and surprise.

"Who is it from?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"Tallest Red and Purple of Irk, aboard the Massive. Accept or Deny?" the computer asked in a monotone voice, needing an answer from the invader.

Zim cursed his foolishness for not being more prepared for something like this, and he rushed to get the correct video playing. Dib looked around frantically, not knowing what to do, before he was suddenly shoved underneath the counter by a harried Zim.

"Accept! Yes accept!" he said as he paused the recording on a scene where he was looking at the camera normally.

The Tallest came up on a small screen in the corner, Zim having to monitor the recording. He started to play it once he began speaking, syncing it up correctly, having gotten used to doing this many times before.

"My Tallest! What a surprise! I am sorry that I have not yet contacted you. What is it you call upon me for my lords?" Zim asked, trying to change his voice to how it used to be.

"Oh, you ARE still alive Zim. By Irk, I'm screwed," Red said with a glare towards Purple as the other did a victory dance in the background. "Well, we were just, uh, making sure your mission goes well. Yeah that's it…" Red said, scratching the back of his head as he nodded sagely, agreeing with his own statement.

Zim scoffed inwardly as he caught the excuse, but he kept his façade up, not wanting to be caught off-guard. He listened closely to every word his Tallest said, making sure to act just as he had a few years prior.

"Oh, we also need another, uh, shipment Zim. It's important that we get it now, and you know the drill, so…just send it. Do you understand Zim?" Red asked him, very slowly as if he were an incompetent young smeet. It made Zim cringe, but he didn't show any signs in his voice.

"Of course my Tallest, I shall send it out right now through the portal." Zim quickly played a recording of him walking off screen for a moment before he did so himself. He rummaged around through a cabinet, pulling out a vial of dark purple liquid, a second following quickly after. Zim walked back over to his controls and played the same clip of video of what he had just done, only when he was shorter.

Zim pressed open the small round slot on the console, a vial holder sliding out. He placed each vial in the holder, making sure they were secure before sending it away. He had used his mechanical arms to control the video as he did the same movements to make sure it didn't skip.

"Ah yes," Purple said, having finally coming out of his happy dance, "Um, well. Good job Zim." They glanced at each other for a moment before trying to obviously hold in their laughter.

Dib was crammed under the small counter, but he still tried to watch as best as he could without moving too much, lest he distract Zim. He was tangled in the wires and his neck was craned in an awkward and uncomfortable position, but he didn't dare move.

He watched as Zim talked animatedly with his bored-looking leaders, wondering how anyone could ever follow their commands. He saw that Zim's plan was to use the video, but try to use the same facial expressions and mouth movements so there would be no chance for getting caught. It was all very well thought out and brilliantly planned, and Dib was quite impressed. Zim really had matured after all of these years, and it made Dib himself strangely proud. It felt almost as if he was the main cause for the alien's changes, but he knew that couldn't be.

Dib was suddenly brought back to awareness as Zim quickly cancelled the transmission and stormed about the room, kicking at the mess on the floor in is rage.

"Zim, what's wrong?" Dib asked as he crawled out from under the counter, trying to dodge the few flying objects and knowing he had missed something extremely bad as he was thinking to himself.

"They know it wasn't me, they are suspicious," Zim said his gaze fixed on nothing as he finally stopped raging at the objects on the floor and turned to face Dib, his hands clenched at his sides. "I'm as good as dead."

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A/N: Ooh. What will happen next? : P


	3. In Which the Tallest Squirm

A/N: Chapter three, un-beta'd, but edited and ready to go! : D

Disclaimer : Really? Do you truly think I own this? Seriously?

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**In Which the Tallest Squirm** –

Tallests Red and Purple had decided to call Zim on only one condition. The Irken leaders were holding a bet whether or not the hated ex-invader was dead yet. Both parties hoped for him to be out of their lives, but for the sake of the bet, there had to be two sides. It all started with a simple conversation between the Tallest.

"Remember the time when-" Red cut off, holding his middle as he held in chuckles, "When we shot Skoodge out to be a part of the organic sweep on Blortch?" Red let out a burst of laughter, Purple joining him not a moment later.

"That was great! You really have the best ideas sometimes Red," Purple had floated up to lean his head against his Co-Tallest's shoulder as he giggled. He twisted his head to the side to look up into Red's eyes as he smiled at the other Irken.

Red floated in the middle of the platform in the bridge, letting Purple look up at him. He had a smug smile on his face, quite proud of himself to have those ideas, and having Purple there to remind him of his greatness.

"Yeah, that was pretty good, right?" Red grinned widely, standing a little bit taller as his ego was stroked by his partner. He reached a hand up and twirled a claw around Purple's antennae lazily. He glanced down to Purple's pak and a thought struck him. His smile vanished quickly and he stood straight, removing Purple from his shoulder. He turned with a grumble and began pacing through the artificial air.

Purple sighed softly when Red touched his antenna, but he quickly straightened himself when he realized that Red had moved away from him. He watched his partner pace for a moment before floating up next to him, resting his claws on his shoulder to stop his movement.

"Red, what's wrong?"

"It's something that just won't leave me alone Pur. I can't stand not knowing, but I can't bring myself to contact him to find out!" Red threw up his hands in frustration, all of the earlier happiness gone from his being.

Purple had, at first, no idea what Red could be worrying about, but as soon as he mentioned contacting someone, he instantly knew who he was talking about. Purple frowned angrily, crossing his arms over his chest, the gauntlets clinking together softly.

"Oh Red, what in the name of us could you possibly want to know about him?" Purple's mood had turned for the worse as well at the mere mention of Zim. Why in all of Irk did Red have to bring up that little parasite when they were both in such great moods?

"Purple, we're almost out of the serum," Red looked directly into Purple's annoyed gaze, searching for understanding. "You know as well as I do that he's the only one we can get it from." Red's gaze shifted to the monitor's screen, debating whether or not it was truly worth it.

Purple gasped and started pacing as well, his antennae twitching in worry. This was bad. Not only was it bad, it also wasn't safe.

"And that's not all Pur, it hasn't been strong enough lately. It's not working…" Red said, seething. "We told him time and again that if he messed it up, he would regret it. But now, it's not working…"

"But Red, Zim isn't smart enough, or tall enough, to even think of doing something like that, especially to us!" Purple said shakily and unsure of himself, his antennae still twitching. "M-Maybe it's just because it's old. You know that he can't make more of it, and it's been on that dirt ball for five years already."

Red scowled, but he nodded, agreeing with his partner. That had to have been it. Zim wouldn't be able to plan anything of that scale. He also couldn't have grown at all. They had made sure of that.

"Right, well I'm still hoping he's dead. If he is, we can just go to that filthy planet and pick up the rest of it. If not, well I'd bet my entire stash of snacks that he is since he hasn't contacted us for a few months…" Red said, his slouched and relaxed posture back in place, but the scowl hadn't left his face.

Purple had still been pacing worriedly, but at the mention of Red's snack stash, he brightened. He immediately stopped pacing and floated over in front of Red again, jumping up and down happily.

"Uw, uw! I'll take that bet!" Purple smiled cheerfully, but anyone could see the sly smirk in that smile as well. "It's not that I want him to be alive," Purple said, stopping for a moment, "But I _do_ want all of your snacks! Let's call him!"

Red's eyes widened, about to protest when Purple shouted out the orders to the worker-drones. The loading screen came up onto the screen, waiting to be connected to the twice-banished Irken.

Purple stood next to a scowling Red, twittering his claws happily, hoping with all his might that Zim would answer and would be alive. At least he could be alive for now.

Finally, the screen flashed a quick 'TRANSMISSION ACCEPTED', and a picture of Zim came up on the screen. He looked exactly as he had when he left for Earth, and that made the Tallest smile to themselves. Red forced himself to stop grumbling, and held down the curses he wanted to throw at the faux-invader.

"My Tallest! What a surprise! I am sorry that I have not yet contacted you. What is it you call upon me for my lords?" Zim squeaked, his voice cracking slightly. Red glared at the screen, forcing himself not to throw something at the image of the Earth-dweller.

"Oh, you ARE still alive Zim. By Irk, I'm screwed," Red said, seething as he shot a glare towards Purple as the other stared doing a victory dance. "Well, we were just, uh, making sure your mission goes well. Yeah that's it…" Red said, scratching the back of his head as he nodded sagely, agreeing with his own statement.

He had to think on his toes, or rather, in the air, if he didn't want Zim to know that he was lying. It was said to be in their programming, but it just really annoyed Red when lies were used. So, by order of the Tallest, Irkens were not supposed to lie, or rather; they were never supposed to get caught doing it. Instead, they used 'exaggerated statements'.

"Oh, we also need another, uh, shipment Zim. It's important that we get it now, and you know the drill, so…just send it. Do you understand Zim?" Red asked him, very slowly as if he were an incompetent young smeet. Red loved acting this way towards Zim, and he could tell that it had made the dancing Purple even happier.

"Of course my Tallest, I shall send it out right now through the portal." Zim said quickly right before he walked off the screen. Red could hear rummaging around in the background, and he took that moment to shoot another glare at Purple, and gave him a signal to come back over next to him. Zim walked back into the picture, holding two vials of dark purple liquid and Red grinned.

The Tallest watched Zim press open the small round slot on his console, a vial holder sliding out. He placed each vial in the holder, making sure they were secure before sending it away. Red floated forward and took the two vials once they had arrived on the ship. He stored them in his pak for later use and moved back in front of the screen.

"Ah yes," Purple said, having finally coming out of his happy dance, "Um, well. Good job Zim." They glanced at each other for a moment before trying to obviously hold in their laughter.

Red held in his laughter, but didn't hear most of what Zim said after that, choosing to not pay attention to his report. He studied the monitor or a moment, blinking when he saw a small skip in Zim's movements. He scrutinized the shorted Irken for a moment more before seeing another skip. Zim had just had his arm in the air one second, and without lowering it, it was at his side.

Red's eyes widened as he realized what the hated Irken was doing. "Y-you liar! How dare you not show your true face to your leaders! Whatever you're hiding Zim, we'll find out, and punish you. Accordingly…"

Red cut the transmission, shaking in fury that a lower rank such as Zim would even dare to lie to him. Purple, who had been munching on some of Red's chips lazily, realized that Red wasn't happy. He saw the transmission had been cut and he floated over to his partner, with a mouth full of chips.

"Woth wong Wed?" Purple asked, finishing the bag of chips and throwing it to the side. He saw the other's scowl directed to the now dark screen, and knew then that it was about Zim.

"What did Zim do Red?" he asked, hoping it wasn't anything really bad. But when Red turned to him and snarled in anger, his back straightening and his antennae shaking in fury, he knew it was _definitely_ not good.

"He lied to us Purple! He showed us a fake picture of his face, and he lied. He's hiding something from us," Red started to pace again, anger rising even more in his chest.

Purple's jaw dropped, not believing that Zim would even dare to do such a thing. Every Irken knew that lying to a higher rank would result in severe punishment. "How the irk would he even know how to do that?" Purple shouted his shock turning into fury.

"I don't know! How long has he been on that…Irth? Five years? He couldn't have gotten smart even in that time! He's the worst Irken in history!" Red shouted, throwing his arms in the air with frustration.

Purple was pacing the other part of the room, when a thought slapped him across his face. "Red, what if he didn't show his face because he's…changed? What if Zim is tall now?" Purple said, not one part of him joking about it.

Red stopped pacing abruptly and turned to his equal, getting ready to shout at his stupidity, when the thought struck his mind that it could be possible. "Purple…You and I both know what we did to make sure that wouldn't happen, but… you could be right." Red thought for a moment, shaking his head. "I never thought about it, but what if it had been the same as our serum? What if he had to keep taking it?"

Red growled in frustration, wanting to tear out his antennae in anger. No, even better would be to tear out Zim's and then force him to eat them. Yes, that would work nicely.

"Even if he hasn't changed Pur, we can't leave out any possibilities. We have to find out what Zim is hiding, no matter what."

* * *

Dib was in shock after Zim finally calmed his rage, having slumped down into the computer chair, his hands holding his head in defeat. Dib felt like doing much of the same thing, but instead he just fell back to lean against the counter. How in the world could they have figured it out? Zim's plan was planned and played out expertly, and yet somehow they had found out that it was all a lie. It was hard to imagine that they had believed it in the first place, but considering they acted like complete idiots every time Dib had seen them, it really wasn't all that hard of a concept to grasp.

Dib's gaze landed on Zim's slumped form once again, and he ran a hand through his unruly hair once before moving forward to crouch in front of the computer chair. His hands hovered in the air just above Zim's thighs for a moment, trying to decide what to do, before he finally placed his hands down on the Irken's legs softly.

"Zim, are you absolutely sure they know?" he asked, leaning forward slightly to try and catch the alien's eyes, but it was no use. Even with how unresponsive he was being, Dib knew that Zim could lash out at him at any moment, so he made sure to be on his toes.

"Yes I'm sure Dib-thing," Zim growled out between his black gloved hands. "They definitely know that I have been lying. I'm sure that in no time they'll find out the rest."

Zim finally looked up to Dib again, locking his ruby gaze to Dib's gold one. He had a sense of serious all throughout him, and he showed that he was definitely not joking. This was seriously a matter of life or death for Zim, and it seemed that it would be that way for awhile now that the Tallest knew his secret.

Dib fell back to sit on the floor, disbelief written plainly across his face. Dib could tell that this was very serious, and he was really worried.

"What are you gonna do Zim?" Dib asked, scratching his head. He was trying to piece all of the parts together, "How do you plan on keeping your height a secret? It's not like you can show your face to them since that's why you did it in the first place. And you certainly can't play any more recordings of yourself; they'll just know it isn't you now."

"I shall think of something, I have to. An Irken's first instinct is to stay alive for as long as possible. No matter what the circumstances or consequences might be in the end. " Zim quickly leaned forward over Dib's head, and began typing on the keyboard, trying to come up with a plan.

There was a long pause in their conversation, the only sound being the soft tapping of Zim's gloved fingers on the keys. Dib gazed at the foreign language, knowing a few letters by memory from seeing it so often. Zim suddenly stopped, pulling his hands back and he looked to the floor, scowling.

"I don't think you quite understand just _how _serious this is Dib-monster." Zim paused, his claws fiddling around with the hem of his uniform for a moment. "Zim…I was never supposed to get this tall. I have a-a defect in my pak. It is the reason why I am so unlike the others; why I cannot focus or now even let go of my fake mission." Zim took a deep annoyed breath before turning to face Dib.

"It's much like a human's…ADD is it? Yes, much like that, except thousands of times worse. I cannot take medicine to feel better, and it cannot be fixed. This defect also stunted Zim's- my growth." Zim said, trying to stop speaking in third person. "If the Tallest found out, I would be executed in a nanosecond if they got to me."

Dib listened intently to Zim's explanation, and his frown seemed to have grown larger and larger with each bit of information. So, Zim _really _couldn't be seen by his leaders. Dib thought to himself for a moment, trying to come up with a solution. A thought struck him suddenly, and he brightened, hoping it would help the other.

"Zim, you said you can't be seen by them, and they can only see you over the transmissions. So can't you just disable all transmissions from your computer, making it impossible for them to contact you?" he asked hopefully, leaning forward to rest on his knees and almost touch the Irken once more.

Zim's antennae snapped upright and he turned his head so quickly he probably got whiplash. He looked over the human for a moment before tapping him on the forehead with a smile and he leaned forward. "Sometimes human, I don't know how I could manage without you…" he said before turning back to the screen, starting the process of disabling the transmissions immediately.

Dib smiled, and he leaned forward the rest of the way to circle his arms around Zim's lithe waist in a quick hug before pulling away and turning to lean against the chair to watch the Irken font roll by. His heart soared at the rare compliment, and he stored the moment in his mind where he knew he would never forget it. Zim didn't even acknowledge his hug, and he just continued his work, but Dib didn't mind, and they both just sat working and watching. Dib silently prayed to whoever would listen to let his plan work.

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A/N: Will it work? : P


	4. Control Thy Enemy

A/N: Hey guys! Yet another newly refurbished chapter! Hope you like it! c :

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**Controlling Thy Enemy – **

Zim was the kind of Irken that could always been seen as at least slightly unstable, but it was only every once in awhile that it got out of hand. Usually, he just yelled at the top of his squeedlyspooch about random things or came up with insane plans and ideas that were doomed to never work.

But now, this was a bit out of control, even for Zim.

He was typing furiously at the control pad as he stared intently at the giant screen in front of him. His antenna were laying flat on the back of his head in exhaustion, and he had dark green circles under his eyes from staring at the screen for so long; all night, to be specific.

He hadn't slept. He hadn't done anything but focus on his new task at hand; staying safe, and staying alive. Unfortunately, this also meant that he was starting to get a bit loopy from the constant focus and the lack of energy that he had.

Dib, on the other hand, had fallen asleep many hours ago in the chair that he had found when they first got there. He fell asleep in a very awkward position; his knees were bent and he was curled into himself, barely perching on the chair as he slept.

It was about six in the morning when Dib woke from the tapping of Zim's quick fingers on the keyboard. He also was then cursed by gravity when he sat up quickly, having jolted from his strange dream, and he slid out of his strange sleeping position on the chair and fell backwards onto the hard metal floor of Zim's lab.

"Ouch! Geeze, stupid gravity…" Dib mumbled with a yawn as he rubbed his eyes, not bothering to move his glasses, and he looked around, wondering what had been going on while he was out.

Dib saw Zim still perched on his chair, typing away at the keys and barely even blinking as he stared at the screen before him. Dib raised an eyebrow at the sight and he stood up slowly, his spine popping and cracking as he straightened up.

"Zim, have you been up all night?" Dib asked with another yawn, wincing as his jaw cracked from misuse.

When Dib didn't get an answer from the Irken, he frowned and pulled his chair back over to sit next to Zim. He watched him type for a moment before he tapped him gently on the shoulder and looked directly at him.

"Zim. C'mon, snap out of it!" Dib snapped his fingers in front of the Irken's face, just before he finally got an answer.

"Zim has no time for something as trivial as sleep Dib-thing. There is much to do, put up firewalls, disable things, and rewire mechanics! Sleep would be a threat to the mission!" Zim said, rambling as he typed vigorously, still not taking his eyes away from the screen in front of him.

Dib was confused for a moment, wondering just what Zim was talking about.

"Mission? Zim what are you- Oh!" Dib realized then why Zim was so focused. He was completely out of it! "Zim, this isn't your mission, it's about your secret remember?" Dib said as he pulled his knees to his chest again, leaning forward to try and make eye contact with the Irken, but to no avail.

This did slow Zim's fingers for a moment, making him stall momentarily.

"No…mission?" He asked softly, looking quite confused. "That's preposterous! Zim has always had a mission; this is just another mission on top of his other mission, yes? The Tallest entrusted Zim to do this! He must fulfill his Tallests ord-"

"Zim! Snap out of it!" Dib said, cutting Zim off mid-rant and he started shaking the alien's shoulders to get him to stop and think for a moment. "Your leaders are the ones you are protecting yourself from, remember?" Dib finally made eye contact, having to crane his neck painfully to do it though, but it was worth it if he got Zim to quit acting insane.

Zim stared at him in shock, confusion, and a bit of disgusted anger before it all started to come back to him. The stress and sleepless night had made him skittish; it made him forget his motive, the reason why he was trying so hard to stay alive.

But now he remembered, and he was thankful that he had Dib there to help him.

Of course, he'd never admit that to the stinky worm-baby. But it was the thought that counted, right?

As soon as Zim showed signs of being back to normal, Dib felt instantly relieved. He sighed softly and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair briefly before looking Zim over and smiling softly.

Without thinking, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms loosely around Zim's neck and hugged him like he had before, relishing in the contact before he realized that Zim had tensed drastically and he seemed to halt everything, even his breathing.

Dib stilled as well and pulled back slowly, looking into Zim's curious and shocked eyes, quite sheepishly.

"Dib-human… what _are_ you _doing_?" Zim asked, his voice strangely controlled even though he looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He wasn't used to 'touchy-feely-icky-stuff' other than physical harm or some small things like a pat on the shoulder.

Dib drew back completely at Zim's tone, afraid he crossed the line; where that line was drawn, even Dib didn't know. He lowered his arms and leaned back into his own chair, peering over the lenses of his glasses slightly as he looked at the Irken.

"I-I was just hugging you Zim…It's what friends do…Ya' know?" He was nervous now, even though he knew he shouldn't be. What had he done wrong?

Absolutely nothing! He was simply hugging Zim, who, when he really thought about it, was his best friend.

Zim looked at him curiously for a moment, blinking his crimson eyes as if he didn't fully understand what Dib was talking about. But, a moment later, Zim seemed to understand and he nodded slightly, shrugged a bit and stood.

Without warning, he pulled Dib up out of the chair he was in and began hugging the other tight around his waist. He held him close and rested his cheek on Dib's shoulder, shocking the human teen even more.

Dib's golden eyes were wide as he stood there, and he slowly brought his arms up to wrap gently around Zim's shoulders. He definitely was not expecting this from the alien.

They stood just like that for awhile, silent as they continued to embrace one another. Zim's antenna would twitch every once in awhile, and Dib attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, but other than that, they stayed completely still.

When Dib finally pulled back from the embrace, his cheeks were tinted pink, and his golden eyes tried to make as little contact with Zim's crimson gaze as possible. He didn't know why he was feeling this way; it was just from a hug from Zim, for goodness sake! But Dib knew one thing for certain; he had never felt that way before.

"Why is your face reddening Dib-monster? Are you alright?" Zim asked, bringing up one of his claws to Dib's chin to turn his face back into his line of sight. He gazed at Dib's face curiously for a moment, scrutinizing him.

"Are you becoming sick? Do you have the germ-y virus?" Zim leaned in towards Dib's face to get a better look.

Having Zim tilt his head back towards the other was embarrassing, but when Zim leaned in closer, Dib freaked out. "Ahh!" he yelped as he fell backwards, landing on a pile of papers, making them fly everywhere.

Zim's eyes widened as Dib jumped away from him and he immediately decided to scan over the Dib's head later on to make sure he didn't have the brain-worms.

"Dib-thing, are you alright?" Zim asked as offered his hand to help the other up. Dib was rubbing his tailbone in pain, having landed hard on it, and he reached up with his free hand to grasp Zim's hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine Zim, and I'm not sick. Just…don't scare me like that again!" Dib said, making eye contact with a confused Irken. "Never mind, I'm alright. Just forget about it."

Zim was doubtful for a moment that the human was 'alright' but there wasn't much he could do to find out, so he shrugged and sat at the computer once again.

True, he _had_ considered shouting something along the lines of, 'LIES! You lie to ZIM, tell me the TRUTH!' but he knew that wouldn't help the situation at all.

Dib sighed in relief silently, and he ran a hand through his dark hair. He straightened himself out again and he settled back into the chair that he had claimed as his own.

Zim also settled back into his own chair and began working on the task at hand again, tapping his lower lip in thought before he began typing once more.

Dib watched as the Irken drew closer to finishing his task as the minutes ticked by. All the while the human was silently praying that it would work the way it was supposed to.

About an hour or so later, Dib was drifting in and out of a doze again and Zim sat back for a moment. Dib looked up as the screen began flashing and a few Irken symbols saying 'loading' popped up, both of them holding their breath as they waited for the results.

Suddenly, Zim cried out in victory as the screen announced that all incoming transmissions were now blocked. Dib smiled in triumph as well and chuckled softly, glad that it was over.

"Yes! Zim has conquered the evil computer of DOOM! Now I can go about my- eh?" Zim stopped midsentence to see the screen flashing a message; his arms that were thrown above his head, were now hanging limply at his sides in confusion.

"INCOMING TRANSMISSION, ACCEPT OR DENY?" the computer announced in its' monotone voice, much to the disbelief of both the human and the Irken.

Zim shrieked in horror and he squeaked a few times in procession before he shouted a quick answer of, "Deny, deny!"

The screen, much to Zim's incredulity, flashed a quick, 'TRANSMISSION ACCEPTED' and the Irken's eyes widened drastically. The screen began to load and he quickly did the only thing he could think of.

He grabbed Dib's wrist and ran to the elevator, dragging Dib along behind him. Zim swiftly punched the Irken symbol for 'storage' and the elevator zoomed downwards.

Dib was breathing heavily, not knowing what really had just happened, and he leaned against the wall of the small elevator, trying to catch his breath.

When the doors opened Zim ran out, still dragging a winded Dib behind him and he backed into the corner of the large storage room.

"Zim what is wrong with you!" Dib was shouting at him as he leaned against the wall, trying to get his bearings.

"Why the hell did you just drag me all the way down here, and- what the hell are you doing?" Dib's shouting broke off into a very confused question. He was now watching Zim curiously as the alien piled crates up high around them.

"Can't talk…Must hide!" Zim said in a quiet but determined voice. Dib was thoroughly confused by now and he began shouting again.

"Zim! What is going on!" Dib barked at the alien, shaking him by the shoulders once again.

Zim stared at the other with a frantic look for a moment before his eyes narrowed and he began speaking in a clear and very serious voice.

"The Tallest have taken control of my computer. It is no longer safe for me here, or for you Dib. I can't be seen by them, and my base is full of computers. I have to hide somehow, but I can't stay here."

Dib's eyes widened, as Zim explained exactly what the situation they were in was. He looked back with wide eyes as he heard a loud shout from Tallest Red from upstairs.

"Zim, you coward! Show yourself to your Tallest!" echoed throughout the storage room from the elevator shaft. The voices upstairs rang out like there were a thousand clones of the same people, all shouting for Zim from the monitors.

Zim had taken them to the storage room specifically because there was no computer access in the storage area, luckily.

Dib looked around, trying to figure out something to do, but he couldn't come up with anything and he huffed indignantly, looking back to Zim.

"What are we going to do, Zim?" He asked, pulling at his hair to try and get himself to think.

"How in the world are you going to become a completely different person that your leaders would never suspect to be you?" Dib felt so very helpless in that moment, but a thought dawned on the alien when Dib said that.

Zim stood up quickly with a grin, his zipper smile prominent on his face as he peered at Dib.

"My disguise creator in my Voot cruiser, that's how! It's what I used when I first arrived here, and yes there are good disguises on it, mine was just…'suck-ish'," Zim said, interjecting before Dib could point out that his first disguise was horrible.

Dib nodded, feeling that a new disguise would definitely help out, and he looked around again, wondering where the Voot cruiser was.

"Alright, so you can use that. Now, where is it?" Dib asked, still looking around the room hopefully, but he didn't see it anywhere in the room.

Zim's smirk faded, and his eyes narrowed into slits as realization came to him, and Dib felt a sense of dread fill him as Zim spoke once more.

"It's on the top floor. Where the main computer is."

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A/N: Dun-dun...DUN-DUUUUUUN! D :


	5. Dangerous but Necessary Unedited

Disclaimer - I don't own, for if I did, this would be a cannon pairing!

Warnings - Alright guys, it's going to start getting intense from here on out! I promise you that in the end, it will all be alright though! Also, this chapter is still un-beta'd!

A/N - Look at this! Look how much I love you guys! A new chapter already, AND I'm already starting chapter six! You better be nice to me and review or I'll leave you guys hanging like this for a week! D :

Anyways, thanks to those who DID review!

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Chapter Five – Dangerous but Necessary

Zim and Dib had searched the entirety of the storage room for something that could help them get up to the top floor without being seen, but there was nothing. They now rested on some crates filled with some strange Vortian food that Zim didn't even know he had.

Dib's scythe lock drooped slightly, showing his exhaustion and his glasses where in danger of slipping off his nose and breaking into pieces on the floor, but he didn't bother moving them back up.

"What are we going to do Zim? There's nothing in here that can help us, and we can just sneak out, they'll still see your height," Dib said, stretching out his arms and wincing as he did so. Zim wasn't in any better shape than Dib. His lekku were laying limp against his head, and his body was slouched over almost uncomfortably.

"I don't know Dib, like you said, there's nothing in here that can help us. I have no idea what we can-" Zim was cut off by a cheerful screech from above.

"HI TACO MEN!" GIR shouted at one of the many screens that were upstairs. Zim and Dib exchanged a quick glance, and Zim grinned evilly. He pulled out a communicator and turned off the video feed before calling his SIR unit.

"GIR! I need you to let me take control for a few minutes. Alright?" Zim said calmly, wanting to keep the robot as calm as possible.

"HI MASTA! Okie dokie! Yous gots control now!" GIR said with a smile that his master couldn't see, but he didn't care. Zim rolled his eyes with a smile, and he put in a code into the communicator before a screen came up, resembling a game controller.

He moved his fingers swiftly, moving the robot with the controller, and he could hear cries of joy coming from the insane SIR. He brought up the vision mode as well, letting him see what GIR saw. It was hard to make some things out because of GIR moving his head a lot, but for the most part, it was alright.

Zim directed GIR up to the top floor with little difficulty, hearing the Tallest comment about the robot in the background, remembering the day they had put him together and tricked Zim into thinking he was 'advanced'.

Zim seethed at hearing this again from his Tallest, but it just drove him to complete this task even faster. He finally got GIR upstairs, but instead of heading to the Voot, he made him go over to the computer.

"Zim, what are you doing? We need the Voot!" Dib said as he found out what Zim was doing, watching the screen from GIR's sight with Zim.

"GIR isn't going to be the one to get the Voot. We are." Zim said with a cackle and his zipper smile still in place. He typed in some different codes, making GIR face the screen for a moment, and the little robot waved happily.

GIR was standing in front of the giant screen with his tongue out, the Tallest looking down at him and laughing uncontrollably. They only stopped laughing for a moment when a cord came out of GIR's head, connecting to the computer.

GIR's eyes glowed red as he processed the connection, and he looked deep in thought. It took a moment, but the little robot's eyes turned blue once more, and he shouted a happy 'DING'! The Tallest exchanged a look and started laughing again, only to stop abruptly when their vision went black on every screen.

They were frozen in shock for a moment, and before they could shout orders to the crew to get it back online, a very scary and angry looking monkey appeared on the screen.

GIR let out a happy squeal as he promptly plopped down onto the floor and watched his favorite show on Earth as he ignored the screams of horror coming from the Irkens on the Massive.

Zim and Dib exchanged a glance, and they both got up and ran to the elevator, Zim punching the button for the top floor. Once the doors to the elevator were shut, Zim and Dib both burst into laughter. They couldn't believe how well that had worked.

They could hear the screams of terror in the elevator as they rode upwards. "It's amazing how effective one scary monkey can be in a time like this," Dib said as he tried to calm his laughing. Zim answered him with a nod, not being able to speak.

Zim was breathing heavily from his laughter, and yet he was still grinning evilly. His plan had worked magnificently so far. He knew now that the Tallest would also know how smart he had gotten. He was also a lot more tactful, and he actually liked to think before he acted now. He had really grown in many ways, and even though this would be considered a great thing on Earth, it was a horrible thought for the Tallest. A nightmare.

They both calmed themselves, and they soon arrived on the top floor. They saw the monkey on the screen, GIR giggling happily while watching, and the screams in the background for it to go away.

They made their way over to the Voot, both jumping in quickly, and Zim started his cruiser. He opened the roof, deciding that once they got somewhere safe he could get a disguise.

"GIR, I'll call for you later! Stay here and you'll get tacos for being good!" Zim shouted out to the robot.

They heard a happy giggle as an answer just before the roof closed underneath them. Zim activated the invisibility shield and zoomed off above the trees in the cul-de-sac.

* * *

As the other Irkens in the Massive were screaming in terror, the Tallest were starring at the horrid thing in shock. Not because of it being so horrifying, oh no, but because they had been outsmarted. By ZIM! It was impossible.

It couldn't be true, but there it was, the horrible monkey on the screen instead of Zim. It was a horribly frightful thought for them, that Zim could actually be smart. But of course that wasn't the half of it. Apparently Zim's appearance had changed as well. So much in fact, that he had to hide it from them. And that could only mean one thing.

Zim was both smart and tall.

Purple had been right. Red didn't think that any universe ever created could hate them so much to ever have this happen. But it had to be true, it was the only logical explanation to them, other than Zim being a traitor now as well, and it would be the worst if all three happened!

"Red, what are we going to do? We have no idea where Zim could've gone. And he's bound to change his appearance so we won't be able to find him anyways!" Purple said as he started to 'pace'.

"I know Purple, I know! There's only one thing that I can think of to do…But it will be very difficult." Red said to his equal, turning to face him.

"What is it? Any idea is good right now!" Purple said, almost shouting.

Red's eyes narrowed as he looked at the other with complete seriousness, "We have to go to…Irth and find him ourselves. And kill him."

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A/N - Okay, I like this chapter a lot! What do you think? -points to review button-

Thanks for reading guys! Love you all!


	6. New Disguises and Calm Moments Unedited

Disclaimer - I only own what I own...

Warnings - RAPR fluff in this one...not much else...

A/N - Check it out, three updates in a row...You know you love me!

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Chapter Six – New Disguises and Calm Moments

Zim had found a small clearing in one of the forests not too far from the outside of the city. He landed the Voot cruiser and jumped out, looking around, similar to what he did the first time ever stepping on Earth. He realized this and immediately straightened his form.

Dib had not had a good ride in the Voot, and his stomach was tossing. Dib hadn't remembered the last time he had been in an object moving that fast. He tried to get out of the cruiser, but it just made his stomach feel worse.

"Dib-thing? Why are you not out yet?" Zim asked, having come back over to the side of the ship, looking up expectantly for Dib to get out. He scowled slightly when the human didn't budge.

"I-I'm not feeling so good Zim…I'm just gonna sit here for a- oh shit!" Dib ignored the flips that his stomach did as he jumped out of the seat and ran to the nearest tree. He quickly wished that he had never had those chips at Zim's base, regretting it right now.

"Dib-thing? Dib are you alright?" Zim asked the sick human from a safe distance away from the male and the tree he was behind.

Dib came out from behind the tree finally, holding his head and trying to balance himself. "Yeah Zim, I'll be fine. I'm just not used to the cruiser's speed."

Zim raised a nonexistent eyebrow in question, but he soon shrugged and helped Dib back over to the side of the cruiser. He found the human a good sized rock for him to sit on, and made sure he was steady before changing the cruiser into the disguise creator.

Dib watched in amazement as the ship morphed, and it reminded him of 'Transformers' in a way, but he quickly shoved the thought out of his mind.

Zim took the now removable display screen off of it's perch and brought it over to Dib, letting him look through the styles.

Dib offered his friend a smile as he took it, and started shifting through the different designs. "Gross, old, pitiful, creepy, even creepier, I'm not quite sure that is! Zim, there's nothing good on here. Can you maybe make your own?" Dib asked hopefully, not wishing his friend to look like some old hobo in a cow suit.

Zim pondered this question for a moment, and took the device from the pale hands. He fiddled with it for a few minutes, using his spider legs once in awhile to pry a part out, or adjust something. When he paused for a moment, he smirked and he held it out to Dib again.

Dib took the screen again, doubtful that it would be any different, until he saw the display. It was completely new. There was a blank outline of a human, completely ready to be made. "Wow Zim! Great job! Alright, so first thing is skin. You can't be green…"

"I can't be green, hm? Well then, why don't I steal your skin?" Zim said with an evil smile, leaning in to Dib, scaring the teenager immensely. "Uhm, Z-Zim, I'd rather you didn't-"

Dib was cut off by Zim grabbing his arm and running a glowing pencil shaped device along the surface slowly. Dib's eyes widened, and before he could ask what Zim was doing, the other tapped the screen with the pointed end and the body immediately had pale white skin, exactly like Dib's.

"Wow…that's what you meant. Alright, I guess face and hair are next," Dib looked up at Zim as he scanned his own face, and touched the screen again. His facial features correct in every way. He then touched the eyes on the figure, and he scanned his lenses that he quickly placed in his eyes.

The figure was coming together beautifully so far, and Zim smiled softly at Dib's amazement of the technology. Zim cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to the task.

"Oh right, hair. Hm, let's see, you can use my color, but you have to choose the style…" Dib said, handing the device over to the other again. Zim scanned his hair quickly, and he entered in some words in Irken, and he moved on to the clothes, scanning the material of Dib's clothes quickly, and designing his own clothes on the screen.

Dib watched the other in amazement, looking at the screen as best as he could. It looked…fantastic. Dib was brought out of his thoughts when Zim scanned his ears and nose, shocked that the alien would have these features.

Of course he knew that Zim was going to go to every length he could to not be noticed. Zim looked over the display and smirked, happy with the outcome from what Dib could tell.

Zim placed the screen back onto it's resting spot and he gave Dib a small smile before stepping into the pod. He tried to hold back his screams, not wanting to draw attention to them in the forest, but as soon as it started, it was over.

Zim stepped out shakily onto the grass, feeling like Dib had earlier. There was hair in his eyes, and he tried to brush it out of his face, but it kept falling back in place. He finally gave up, straightening his form and stepping out in front of Dib.

Dib was shocked by the person in front of him. He was the same height as Zim, and the same eye color when the contacts were in, but there was a human there. He had five fingers even! A nose, ears, eyebrows, everything!

Zim now had shoulder length black hair, an 'emo' hairstyle with dark blue streaks in it. His eyes were a piercing violet, and his ears had the same rings as Dib's in them. He had a long-sleeve black and pink striped shirt on underneath a long black trench coat. He had on tight black jeans with rips in the sides and knees. On his feet, he had elevated Combat boots that stretched up his calf to his knees.

Zim smiled at Dib with perfect teeth, and he walked toward the human, turning to display his new disguise. Dib had left his mouth hanging open for a moment, having it closed by Zim's first two fingers.

"Now, now Dibblet, no staring," Zim said with a smirk. He slung his arm around Dib's shoulders and pulled him closer to him. "Well, now, let's go have a sleep-over, right Dibblet?" Zim said with his smile still in place.

* * *

Tallest Purple had dragged the other leader into the other room at his words. "Go to IRTH? Are you joking? You have got to be joking Red!" Purple shouted at the other as he tried to even process the thought of going to where Zim was.

"I know it sounds crazy Purple, but do you want to be overthrown by him? This is the only way to get rid of him. We have to…" Red said softly as he took the other by the shoulders and looked into his violet eyes.

Purple sighed and leaned forward and rested his cheek on the other's shoulder, feeling the other stroke his PAK. "You know, they better not be really ugly. That will mean we have to be really ugly until we find him." Purple shivered in disgust at the thought.

All Irkens thought that they were the only decent looking race they would ever find, and no one argued, because an Irken's pride was not something to go up against.

Red chuckled at his partner's thoughts, wondering how he possibly could be focusing on that right at the moment. He sighed, bringing the other up to both their full heights. He kissed the other's forehead softly, brushing his lekku with his fingertips.

"It's alright Pur, I won't care how ugly the race is, I will still know that it is the beautiful you I'm with," Red whispered to him softly, making the other grin.

"Yeah, you're right, I am beautiful!" Purple said before he patted the other's shoulder and walked out.

Red stood there with a confused look on his face for a moment before he realized what the other had said and he immediately followed after the other shouting, "Hey! Purple get back here!"

Both knew that this was probably going to be the last time they could be like this for a long while. It was going to be a stressful quarter-cycle.

* * *

A/N - A quarter-cycle is the amount of time it will be to get to Earth for them- just so you know! Thanks for reading guys!


	7. From Canadia Unedited

Wow, almost a year without updating? I'm so sorry guys!

Well this is just a quick chapter I almost had finished sitting on my computer for sooo long, I finished it quickly and decided to post it. It isn't as long as the others, but it's something! It might be awhile for another update, but hopefully this will be enough for now!

Caoi!

* * *

Chapter Seven - From Canadia

On the way to Dib's house, Zim made sure to keep the speed at a slower pace, not wanting to make the human sick again. The Irken kept glancing over to the human to make sure that he was alright. Zim wouldn't admit it, but he felt bad when he made the other sick, it made his spooch clench in guilt.

When Dib's house was in sight, the human directed Zim to land in the driveway and he would open the garage, hiding the Voot inside.

"Hide my ship inside of your 'gar-age'? Is that safe Dibblet?" Zim asked. He opened the ship letting the other out and he looked at the other, doubtful, pale arms crossed and his black and blue dyed hair in his bright violet eyes.

Dib's breath caught in his throat for a moment when he saw Zim, still not used to the alien's brilliant disguise. He shook his head to clear his mind before answering.

"Y-yeah it's safe Zim, I have Tak's old ship in here. Neither Gaz nor my dad ever come in here," Dib said as he hoisted open the garage door with a small grunt. Zim just shrugged and swung his body back into the ship and got it into the garage.

He jumped out of the voot cruiser, the invisibility shield shimmering away, and Dib grabbed a tarp, covering the ship. Dib stood back next to Zim and looked over the covered ship, nodding before closing the garage.

"Come on, I guess you'll be staying here for awhile, so I guess that Gaz and Dad will have to see you sometime…Oh shit, we missed Hi Skool! Damn, that's another detention I don't need…" Dib murmured to himself as he opened the door to the kitchen for Zim to walk inside.

The Irken gave him a curious look, wondering why the human was worrying about Skool when there were bigger problems out there. None-the-less, Zim walked inside, glancing around first, his invader instincts getting the better of him.

Dib rolled his eyes at Zim's actions, about to tell him that he didn't need to be worried at his house when he ran into a purple-haired demon that was his sister.

"Gaz! Um... hi?"

"You're late Dib, and I'm hungry. And you know what happens when I'm hungry for too long."

"Uh…G-gaz I was with my, uh, our new…exchange student! His name is…uh…"

As Dib was trying to stay alive as best he could while lying horribly to his little sister, Zim just smirked. "I am Z. It is not short for anything, not long for anything. Just Z," Zim said, with a small glare directed toward the younger Membrain child.

Gaz's glare turned toward 'Z' and she stalked over in front of him. "Z? Why would you hang out with the idiot I call my brother? Where are you from anyway?" Gaz looked over the disguised Irken, her glare deepening.

"Z is from Canadia, I have been assigned to stay with your older-brother unit and his family for the time I stay here. Oh woe is Z, I shall miss the braying of the platypi, and the cackling of the mutated-zombie moose!" Zim declared, overplaying his actions.

Gaz just glared at Z, sighing after a moment, and shaking her head. "Dib, why is it that everyone you hang out with is more insane than you?" Gaz turned back to her brother, who shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about Gaz, but if you leave Z and myself alone, I'll order Bloaty's pizza," Dib said, picking up the phone.

Gaz grumbled something about stupid older brothers as she stalked back into the living room, playing her video game once again.

Dib smirked, and he ordered the pizza quickly before grabbing Zim's arm and running up to his room, dragging the other behind him.

Only when the door was securely shut and locked behind his back did Dib let out the breath he had been holding. He then shot a glare towards the disguised Zim.

"Canada, Z? And platypi? Where the hell were you in world history class? Anyways, I guess we can get something to eat now, since I have to get Gaz something anyway…" Dib led 'Z' into the kitchen and watched him hop up onto the counter, his new trench coat thrown on the back of a chair and his long legs crossed in front of him.

"Dib-beast, where is your parental unit?" Zim asked looking around his tiny kitchen as Dib rummaged in the cupboards for something to make and he searched the door of the fridge for the number for Bloaty's pizza.

"Well, he's not around much, like ever, and right now he's at work, discovering the new ways to use SCIENCE," insert dramatic pose here, "in the ever changing world." Dib shook his head to himself as he grabbed the phone, dialing the number to the pizza place quickly.

Zim gave a small 'Ah,' in understanding and he nodded, brushing his new bangs off to the side a bit more. He listened in to what Dib was ordering from the sweaty pizza man, wondering how anyone could eat something like that. Dib finished ordering the food for his sister and he went looking in the cupboards again, trying to find something that Zim could eat. Nothing with water, obviously, and he ended up finding some trail mix, some popcorn, and a few unopened bags of chips.

Dib shrugged and figured that it would be fine just to have that at the moment, since Zim usually ate snacks anyways, and so he tossed a bag of chips to the disguised Irken, who cheered in delight and hugged the bag before tearing it open.

Dib rolled his eyes and they made their way up to Dib's room calling to Gaz that the pizza would be there soon and the money was on the counter. He fumbled with the key to his room for a moment, trying to shove it in the lock but he soon got it open. He let 'Z' go inside first, yanking the key from the lock again and he sauntered in after the Irken, who was looking around his room with interest.


	8. Author's Note, 1 to 4 now updated

Hi guys!

Just a quick update on my status with updating this story.

I recently fixed something that I noticed had gone wrong with the third chapter after I edited it, and re-submitted it last night. Since then, I have gotten an unexpected amount of excellent feedback for this story, and I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not giving up on this! I've been spurred into action because of you guys, and I'm now finishing my work with re-writing the chapters I already have up, and I'll hopefully have them up soon!

So once again, thanks so much you guys! I really, truly appreciate every review you send in, whether it be short or long.

Thanks and hope to see you soon,

eleMENTAL


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